Summary of global markets and news

# Market Overview

Global risk sentiment rebounded on expectations of renewed U.S.-Iran peace talks, driving a broad rally in U.S. stocks, according to global capital market monitoring data. The **S&P 500** rose **1.18%** to **6,967.38** points, approaching its all-time high set in late January. The **NASDAQ Composite** surged **1.96%** to **23,639.083** points, notching a **10-session winning streak**—its longest run since November 2021—with a cumulative gain of over 12%. The **Philadelphia Semiconductor Index** and the **U.S. Memory Chip Index** both climbed more than 2%, hitting fresh record highs. **Meta** led the Magnificent Seven tech giants with a gain of over 4%.

Energy stocks were weak: **Chevron** fell 2.5%, and **ExxonMobil** tumbled as much as 3.8%, erasing all gains since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran conflict. Bank stocks showed sharp divergence: **Citigroup** rose more than 3%, **JPMorgan Chase** edged down 0.6%, and **Wells Fargo** plunged over 7% during the session.

U.S. March **PPI** data eased inflation concerns, pushing Treasury yields lower, according to the **U.S. Department of Labor**. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell **4.15 basis points** to **4.2518%**, and the 2-year yield dropped **2.52 basis points** to **3.7470%**.

In the foreign exchange market, the **U.S. dollar** declined for a seventh consecutive day. The **offshore yuan** appreciated 0.2% at one point, breaking above 6.81. In the cryptocurrency space, **Bitcoin** surged then retreated, rising nearly 4% and approaching $76,000 at its peak, according to global crypto exchange monitoring.

Commodities saw a sharp divergence. Precious metals rallied strongly, with **spot gold** climbing **2.12%** to **$4,840.60 per ounce** and **spot silver** jumping **5.30%** to **$79.6131 per ounce**, data from the **London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)** showed. Crude oil prices plummeted: **WTI May crude futures** settled down **7.87%** at **$91.28 per barrel**, and **Brent June crude futures** fell **4.60%** to **$94.79 per barrel**, according to the **New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)** and **Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)**.

During the Asian session, **China's A-shares** posted strong gains. The **Shanghai Composite Index** reclaimed the 4,000-point mark, closing at **4,026.63** points, up **0.95%**. The **Shenzhen Component Index** rose **1.61%** to **14,639.95** points, and the **ChiNext Index** surged **2.36%** to **3,558.53** points, led by a massive rally in the computing power产业链. Hong Kong stocks also strengthened: the **Hang Seng Index** rose nearly 1%, and **Pop Mart** jumped more than 6%, according to the **Hong Kong Stock Exchange**.

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# News Briefs

## China News

- **Xi Jinping meets with UAE Crown Prince Khalid** (Xinhua News Agency). President Xi noted that the UAE is China's comprehensive strategic partner and China highly values developing relations with it. He put forward a four-point proposal on safeguarding and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East.

- **Wang Yi holds talks with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov** (Ministry of Foreign Affairs website). The two sides exchanged views on preparing for a meeting between the heads of state of the two countries within the year and discussed international and regional issues including the U.S.-Iran conflict. They signed the 2026 Consultation Plan between the two foreign ministries.

- **China's March foreign trade data released** (General Administration of Customs). Exports in USD terms rose **2.5% YoY**, while imports surged **27.8% YoY**. Natural gas imports fell to a three-year low. Electric vehicle exports in Q1 jumped **77%**, and lithium battery exports rose **50%**. In Q1 2026, total goods trade hit **11.84 trillion yuan**, exceeding 11 trillion for the first time in a single quarter, up **15% YoY**, and has stayed above 10 trillion for **12 consecutive quarters**.

- **First "Hangzhou Six Dragons" stock**: **Kujing Technology** received **~1,071x** oversubscription, with subscription funds reaching **HK$131.2 billion**. It plans to list on the **Hong Kong Stock Exchange** on **April 17**, with a maximum offer price of **HK$7.62** and total fundraising not exceeding **HK$1.227 billion** (HKEX announcements & market data).

- **Corporate earnings (listed company announcements)**:

 - **Sugon**: 2025 non-GAAP net profit +34% YoY; plans to issue **8 billion yuan** convertible bonds to boost AI computing power.

 - **Luxshare Precision**: 2025 revenue & net profit both +~24% YoY (all-time highs); automotive electronics business surged **185.34%** YoY.

 - **Rockchip**: 2025 revenue +40% YoY, net profit +75% YoY (all-time highs); AI edge-side layout accelerates materialization.

- **CAS Space launches 8 satellites on one rocket** (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation). On **April 14**, the **Lijian-1 Y12** carrier rocket successfully deployed 8 satellites, including the "Postal Savings Bank" satellite, into orbit, marking the start of scheduled launches for the Lijian-1 rocket in 2026.

- **Evergrande Group, Evergrande Real Estate and Xu Jiayin case goes to trial** (court public notice). Xu Jiayin pleaded guilty and expressed remorse in court. The court will announce a verdict at a later date.

- **China Vanke unveils debt extension plan** (Vanke announcement). For the **23 Vanke MTN001** medium-term note, Vanke proposes to repay **40%** principal upfront and extend the remaining **60%** for one year at the same **3.11%** interest rate, backed by accounts receivable pledge.

## Global News

- **U.S. March PPI below expectations** (U.S. Department of Labor). PPI rose **4% YoY** (three-year high) but **0.5% MoM**, slowing from previous levels. Near-term inflation fears eased, but medium-term concerns remain.

- **U.S.-Iran talks developments** (foreign media reports):

 - Trump says talks "likely in Pakistan in next two days."

 - Iran weighs pausing **Strait of Hormuz** shipping to gain leverage in negotiations.

 - U.S. military says 10,000+ personnel enforcing port "blockade"; 6 ships turned back on day one; two Iranian vessels passed through the Strait.

 - Trump admin to let Iran oil sanction waivers expire this week.

 - Pakistan: U.S. and Iran agree to continue talks; calls for 45-day ceasefire extension. Saudi Arabia pressures U.S. to drop Hormuz blockade.

- **Israel-Lebanon hold direct talks in U.S.** (U.S. State Department). First direct talks in decades; U.S. officials say agreement reached on **disarming Hezbollah**.

- **Judy Shelton submits financial disclosures** (Fed & Congress announcements). A key step toward Fed Chair confirmation; Senate hearing set for **April 21**. Key Republican senator vows to block nomination unless DOJ drops probe into Powell.

- **AI race intensifies** (tech media):

 - **OpenAI** launches cybersecurity model **GPT-5.4-Cyber**; internal memo leaks claiming **Anthropic** inflated revenue by **$8 billion**.

 - **Anthropic** set to release flagship model **Opus 4.7** and AI design tool this week.

 - **NVIDIA** unveils world's first quantum-AI open-source model **Ising**, targeting calibration and error correction.

 - **Google** diversifies chip suppliers; in talks with **Marvell** on custom **TPUs** and inference chips.

- **Bank earnings diverge** (bank earnings & market data):

 - **JPMorgan Chase**: Q1 revenue **$50.5 billion** (beat); trading revenue at all-time high; investment banking +38% YoY.

 - **Wells Fargo**: Q1 results miss; net interest margin narrows; private credit exposure revealed; stock plunged >7% (biggest drop in a year).

- **Global macro warnings** (IMF, Bank of America, Harvard):

 - **IMF** cuts 2026 global growth forecast to **3.1%**; warns escalation could push world into recession.

 - **BofA Fund Manager Survey**: stagflation expectations spike to **76%**; rate-cut hopes fade.

 - Harvard professor: U.S.-Iran war could cost taxpayers **$1 trillion**.

- **Central bank & energy updates** (ECB, BOJ, IEA):

 - **ECB**'s Lagarde: Euro zone below baseline; no bias to hike.

 - **BOJ** likely to sharply raise inflation forecasts this month amid energy price surge.

 - **IEA** slashes 2026 oil outlook: first demand decline since 2020; largest supply disruption ever.

- **Global corporate moves** (tech & financial media):

 - **Microsoft** rushes to build data centers after last year's slowdown; forced to use costly off-grid power.

 - **Amazon** in talks to buy satellite operator **Globalstar** to challenge **Starlink**.

 - **Ajinomoto** holds >95% share of **ABF** films critical for AI chip packaging; supply bottleneck looms.

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# Sector Focus

- **Robotics**: **TrendForce** forecasts global humanoid robot industry to enter commercialization critical phase in H2 2026. China's production to surge **94%** YoY; **Unitree** and **智元机器人** to capture ~80% share.

- **AI Glasses**: **Huawei** to launch new AI glasses in April (Securities Times). Built on HarmonyOS, with camera and deep integration with **Xiaoyi AI Assistant**.

- **3D Printing**: China's 3D printer exports +119% Q1 (GACC). Industry at inflection point; foldable phone boom to drive titanium hinge demand.

- **Autonomous Driving**: World's first "autonomous driving mobile space" route—**Guiyang "Wonder Loop"**—to launch trial operation **April 20** (China Securities Journal).

- **Media/Online Literature**: 2025 market size **50.21 billion yuan** (+16.6% YoY); IP adaptation **367.61 billion yuan** (+23.13% YoY) (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).

- **Computing Power**: China's largest scientific AI computing cluster launched in **Zhengzhou** (Shanghai Securities News). 60,000 AI accelerator chips deployed.

- **Huawei Cloud**: **INSPIRE Conference** in Shanghai **June 4–5**; to unveil new AI infrastructure (Shanghai Securities News).

- **Innovative Drugs**: China to improve market-led drug pricing mechanism (General Office of the State Council). High-quality pharma leaders show strong fundamentals (Southwest Securities).

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# Key Events Ahead

- **139th Canton Fair** opens (Canton Fair official announcement).

- **U.S. data**: March import/export prices; April NY Fed Manufacturing; Feb long-term TIC flows; April NAHB Housing Market Index (U.S. Commerce Dept, NY Fed, NAHB).

- **Fed**: Beige Book; Governor Bowman speech (Fed official schedule).

- **U.S. EIA crude oil inventories** (EIA official release).

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# Risk Disclaimer

Markets are volatile and investments involve risk. This article does not constitute personalized investment advice and does not account for specific investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual users. Users should assess whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article suit their particular circumstances. Investment decisions are at your own risk.